Stone Mountain rocks to sounds of Radiohead

Radiohead Monday night at Stone Mountain Park. The verdict: first visit in four years definitely worth the wait.

Radiohead
Stone Mountain Park
Atlanta
July 30, 2001

Radiohead came to the mountain. Stone Mountain, that is.

In an expanse of green known as the Meadow, ringed mostly by pine trees, the British quintet played a set heavy on material from the last three of its five albums. And in a revelatory evening, those electronic-infused tracks took on surprising power.

More than 7,300 people saw the band's welcome return to Atlanta Monday night after a four-year absence. In the interim, the group has been twice nominated for a Grammy for album of the year and has seen its fourth album, Kid A, debut at the top of the U.S. chart.

As the crowd marinated in the steamy air, rain sprinkled the Meadow for about 15 minutes before the band took the stage just after 9 p.m.

By the time the pounding distorted bassline of "The National Anthem" filled the air as the band entered the silvery set, the rain had subsided.

The sold-out show was one of the most anticipated of the summer, and the band didn't disappoint.

Three songs into the set, "Airbag" cranked up the deciblel level and the crowd roared its approval. Vocalist Thom Yorke's trademark frenzied head wobble was in full effect as the gutars screamed on either side of him.

The power of the electronic laden material from Amnesiac and Kid A, the group's most recent releases, was a stunner. On record, tracks such as "Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box" seem like avant-garde oddities. Live, they gained massive amounts of energy and rocked with real fury.

In the quieter moments, Yorke's voice was clear and affecting. On the stunningly gorgeous ballad "Exit Music (For a Film)," his fallen choirboy tenor rang across the meadow with the song's spine-tingling final line, "we hope that you choke." By the time the band launched into "No Surprises," he'd really hit his stride for one of the band's sweetest tunes, backed by multi-instrumentalist Jonny Greenwood's chiming xylopone.

When Radiohead rocked, like on the clanging "I Might Be Wrong," the unsung rhythm section of drummer Phil Selway and bassist Colin Greenwood pushed the band into hyperdrive. The anthemic "Paranoid Android," from third album OK Computer, was a high-energy highlight, with the crowd shouting its recognition.

An even bigger reception greeted an encore of the title cut from second album, The Bends, an album that is still many fans' favorite.

Yorke and his mates proved once more that they're one of rock's best live bands, and the underused venue proved an amenable host.

Shane Harrison

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
31.07.01